


That Which Doesn't Kill Us

by Nehasy



Category: Tenkuu no Escaflowne | The Vision of Escaflowne
Genre: Child Soldiers, Conspiracy, Grief/Mourning, M/M, Minor Character Death, Series, Trauma, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-17
Updated: 2017-01-17
Packaged: 2018-09-18 05:42:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9370691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nehasy/pseuds/Nehasy
Summary: The Dragonslayers experience their first lost, and it costs them more than they could ever imagine





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the Escaflowne Week 2017 day two challenge. Survivial/loss. I decided to combine the two together to show how the Dragonslayers deal with the loss of Miguel in episode 11.   
> While there is Dilandau/Miguel here, it's only in reference. This is part of my Dragon in the Ashes universe. If you want to know what the hell Folken is up to, the answers are in the main story.

                Shesta stared at the remains of his guymelef and suddenly found himself leaning against the temple wall, unable to hold himself up anymore.  His Alseides had been cut in half… IN HALF!!!  How was that even possible?  What sort of monster was this Van Fanel guy anyway?

                His blue eyes grew wider with every passing second as he stared at the smoldering puddle of slag which had been the right side of his unit.  Hints of blue flame still flickered from the crima metal breaking down, consuming the hull of the once mighty machine.  _I’d been in that thing…_ He thought to himself.  _That was almost me burning up in there._  

                The whole attack was still a blur that he was struggling to sort out in his head.  He remembered being stealthed and stepping up to cut down the damn dragon for his captain.  It had looked like some strange white dragon, the scrawny Fanelian king riding it like a horse.  His first thought had been how ridiculous the whole scenario had looked… then he’d seen the sword clutched in the dragons claws and realized that it had shifted its angle and was charging him at full speed.

                There hadn’t been time to try to defend, and even if he’d been able to get his sword up, the damn dragon’s momentum would have sent him flying.  All he’d been able to do in that last moment was twist to the side as he heard the hideous sound of metal shearing through metal.  It had been pure chance that he’d released his controls and pulled himself to the side just as that giant blade had torn through his cockpit.  The hull had ruptured, liquid crima had been released, spraying everywhere and he’d felt that cold rush of fresh air .  For a moment, all he’d thought was how refreshing it was to feel the breeze after spending hours in the stifling and claustrophobic cockpit. 

Of course, he then belatedly realized that he shouldn’t be feeling a breeze at all in the closed space and that’s when the spilled liquid metal had ignited, sending a blast of scorching heat at his toppling form.

The shock of the blast and the resulting impact of his unit falling over without the cushion of liquid metal to protect his body had knocked him out.  He hadn’t seen the rest of the fight at all and had blearily crawled out of the remains of his unit with Gatti’s help. 

The other boy didn’t look like he’d fared much better.  He held himself stiffly, as if he’d pulled several muscles and there was blood on the corner of his mouth and a spreading bruise across his temple.  A quick glance over at the second in commands Alseides showed that the chest had been nearly caved in from an impact and there was a rather impressive guymelef shaped dent in the temple wall it rested against.

“T…the dragon?”  Shesta finally pried his eyes away from the burning remains to look at his friend with concern.  “Did we get it?”  It was a stupid question and he immediately regretted asking it, especially when he saw how Gatti’s jaw tightened, pulling the cut on his lip open once again.

“It flew back to Freid.”

“Oh…Lord Dilandau must be furious.”  He murmured and then winced again, fully expecting to feel a brutal slap at any moment for failing in their mission.  When no attack was forthcoming, nor was there any screaming, things being thrown around, or blasts of fire, the blonde slayer risked a cautious glance around him. 

It was hard to miss the crimson Alseides kneeling about fifty feet away from them.  It looked like it had fared just as badly as their own had.  The left arm was missing just above the elbow joint, the top of the cockpit was badly dented and partially caved in while the stealth mantle was shredded from the slide down the temple stairs.

Gasping loudly in horror, Shesta took a step towards it, terrified that the captain might be hurt, but Gatti quickly placed a firm hand on his shoulder, holding him in place.

“Don’t.”  He warned, his pale grey eyes holding onto Shesta’s azure blue.  There was so much pain in their depths that for a moment, the young blonde felt his world crumble to ash, thinking that something horrible had happened to his beloved leader.

“No…. NO!!”  He yelled out, tears blurring his vision as he slapped the taller boys hand away and ran towards the crimson guymelef.  “Lord Dilandau!”

“Dammit Shes!”  Gatti grabbed him again and yanked him back hard.  Both of them grunted in pain as the sudden movements aggravated their injuries.  “Don’t go near him.  He’s…. he’s not well right now.”  The tone of warning finally cut through Shesta’s panic and his terror turned to icy cold dread.  They all knew what those words of warning meant.  “Lord Dilandau was furious, killing mood furious.  Anyone who caught his attention risked being torn apart whether they deserved it or not.

“I’ve already notified the Vione that we need a transport ship sent to us.  It should be here within the hour.  We just need to sit tight and not do anything to set him off until then.” 

“Like what?  Trash our guymelefs?”  Shesta didn’t manage to bite his tongue fast enough, earning himself a sharp glare from the other Dragonslayer.  “Sorry.”  He muttered softly.  “I’m still a little high strung from the fight.  Where is he?  Tell me he’s not still in his Alseides?”  The idea of their captain sitting there in his war machine stewing in a homicidal rage was pretty much a worst case scenario if he’d ever one.  Damaged or not, that thing was still lethal.

“No, he’s on the northern ledge, staring out at Freid.  He hasn’t moved since he pulled me out of my cockpit…he hasn’t even said anything.”

This time Shesta did manage to bite back his initial reaction which was to swear profusely.  Screaming and ranting Lord Dilandau was bad… terrifying in fact, but quiet Lord Dilandau was ten times worse.  Their captain was loud, brash and a shining white force of nature, but he was never ever quiet.  The few times he was, things died.  Lots of things.

“It’s… it’s not our fault.  He’s got to know that right?  That thing saw through our stealth cloaks!”  Gatti shook his head as Shesta babbled.

“Shesta…”

“I mean, how were we supposed to know that he could see us?  The Strategos never mentioned anything like that.  Isn’t he supposed to know these things?”

“Shesta”

“I swear that guy isn’t human.  The king I mean, not the Strategos.  I mean, how does he manage to survive our attacks?  We’re the best!  Lord Dilandau has to be right, the guy’s some sort of demon! And-”

“Shes!”  Gatti hissed sharply, grabbing the blonde by the shoulders and spinning him around.  At first, Shesta wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be looking at.  It was just the temple, some rubble and… oh… ew… a pile of bloody goo that might have been meat-like in quality at one point in time. 

“What the… was… was that a person?  Did Lord Dila… oh… oh I’m gonna throw up.”  Ignoring his injuries or the way the world spun sickeningly around him, he quickly shoved Gatti away and ran in the opposite direction of the goo.  He only made it five steps before falling to his knees and dry heaving.  A thin line of foul smelling spittle leaked out of the corner of his mouth, but little else, leaving his stomach to cramp viciously.

“I… I think that was the doppleganger.”  Gatti murmured as he walked up to stand beside Shesta.  “Whatever he said to Lord Dilandau set him off.  The dragon was just the final kick in the nuts.”

“That… that was a person?!”

“Doppleganger.  I’m still not sure that freak qualified as a person.”  Gatti growled softly.  For all his open-mindedness, he found that he shared his captain’s intense dislike for the strange race.

“Still… Strategos Folken is going to be furious.  Remember what he said about Lord Dilandau murdering our allies?”  Gatti let out another sigh and rubbed his temples before wincing as he pressed on a bruise.

“Shesta, think about it…”  His head hurt too damn much to think.  He’d almost been turned into slag tonight!  The look on his face must have said as much because once again, Gatti’s jaw did that clenching thing.

“Miguel.”  The second in command said.  That was all that was needed for Shesta’s world to come to a crashing halt.  They’d come here to pick up Miguel after the Doppleganger had freed him… but the guy was now goop, and Miguel wasn’t in sight.  If he was here, Dilandau would be with him, likely either beating the crap out of him for allowing himself to get captured in the first place, or doing other things with him that Shesta would rather not think about right now. 

Neither of those seemed to be happening.  So we had a dead spy, no Miguel, and Dilandau furious enough to slaughter half the Vione for breathing too loudly.  It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened.

“The escape failed?”  He hedge cautiously, hoping for the best case scenario no matter how implausible.  He knew his captain well enough to know that if the initial stealthy rescue had failed, he’d be dragging the entire team into action, ready to storm Freids capital and burn it to the ground in order to get any of his men back.  That went doubly so for Miguel.  If Lord Dilandau was just standing there quietly raging…not saying a word…oh gods…

“No…”  He murmured softly, turning to stare at Gatti pleadingly.  “He… he’s fine right?  He’s just still locked away in there.  We can get him back… we’ll call in the others…”

The ash blonde slayer didn’t answer, instead he just lowered his head, blinking several times and swallowing loudly, doing his best to push down the overwhelming grief which tore him up inside.  Miguel had been his partner since the Dragonslayers had formed.  They were roommates, best friends and fierce rivals.  The idea of not having the brunette’s infuriating presence at his side left a huge gaping wound in the second in command’s heart.  He didn’t want to even think about what the loss might mean to their captain.

While he made a show of keeping his distance from his men, the Dragonslayers all felt the strange bond the albino had with them.  Never was it more obvious than with Miguel.  There was an intimacy between the two teenagers that no one else on the team could come close to touching and it went beyond the mere sharing of each other’s bunks. 

Gatti knew his captain better than any of the other Dragonslayers, barring Miguel and he knew that this wasn’t something that Lord Dilandau was going to just walk away from.  It was going to get ugly.  Blood was going to be spilled in one form or another and he honestly had no idea how to prevent it from happening.

 

Even when the transport ship arrived and loaded their damaged Guymelefs on board, their captain had simply walked onto the ship without comment and sat down in the cramped hangar, his head bowed and his elbows resting on his knees.  Gatti had quickly stepped forward to deal with the ships pilots while Shesta discreetlyensured that no one so much as approached their leader, granting him what privacy they could.

Neither of them had ever seen him like this, so passive and still.  It was unnerving and set them both on edge even more than they had been.

Still, it caught them both utterly unprepared when the instant the ship had docked, Dilandau had burst into motion.  He was on his feet and out the door before the docking clamps had even locked, breaking about half a dozen safety regulations in doing so.

Gatti and Shesta had taken one look at each other and bolted after him, already knowing that they were going to be too late.

  
                Strategos Folken was waiting for them in the hangar, standing there, stoic as always and wrapped in his long ominous looking Madoushi cloak.  His cold ochre eyes watched the approaching embodiment of wrath without a trace of emotion in their depths.  Even when Dilandau drew his sword, the man didn’t so much as flinch.  Then again, he didn’t need to.  The Strategos had come flanked by four heavily armed guards who had raised hand crossbows the instant the young captain had begun to approach. 

_He knew!_  Was all Gatti had time to realize before chaos descended on the Vione.  Someone yelled out an alarm, there were the heavy sounds of many armoured feet approaching and somewhere along the line, both he and Shesta had drawn their swords, ready to protect their captain no matter the cost.

“YOU DID THIS!”  Dilandau shrieked.  His voice was so full of unbridled rage that it barely sounded human as it bounced off the walls of the hanger.  All around them, technicians and deck hands scrambled to get out of the way.  Even the surrounding guards hesitated, all too well acquainted with the albino captain’s vicious temper to want to close the distance between them.  Only the four guards around Lord Folken held steady, clearly well prepared for the teenager’s wrath.  .

“YOU MURDERED HIM!”  Dilandau screamed again as he surged forward with a rather surprising burst of speed, closing the distance between them as he aimed his sword for the throat of the pale Strategos.  The guards fired their crossbows, the bolts all hitting the berserk youth in the upper chest.  Though he stumbled slightly from the impacts, they did little to slow his momentum.

Instead of reloading, the guards simply dropped the weapons and raised their other arms, revealing a second set of crossbows which they also wasted no time in firing. 

“I’M GOING TO TEAR YOU APART AND CRUSH YOUR TRAITOROUS HEART UNDER MY BOOTHEEL!”  Dilandau screamed, visibly slowing down and stumbling as whatever the darts had been coated in began to work their magic. 

He was nearly within range of the Strategos and the guards drew their swords… no, not swords… they were armed with metal batons?  Gatti felt his confusion rise up along with his own rage and knew that Shesta was likely feeling much the same as they raced towards the drama unfolding around them.

“Lord Dilandau!”  He yelled to his captain, hoping to snap him out of his killing rage and call him back.  If Dilandau heard him, he gave no sign and slashed at the Strategos viciously, only to have the attack knocked aside by one of the guards.

The four men descended on the already visibly weakened and drugged teenager and the two Dragonslayers watched helplessly as they saw Dilandau’s sword knocked from his hand by a vicious strike of a baton while two others attacked his legs, trying to knock him over.

Desperate to reach their leader, Gatti suddenly found their way blocked by the hangar guards who clustered together to form a living barrier between themselves and their captain.    Undaunted, the two Dragonslayers didn’t even pause as they leapt forward to attack.  In the back of their minds, they knew they would be court martialed for this, but it didn’t matter.  Nothing mattered if Lord Folken killed their leader!

“You sent him to murder Miguel!”  They heard Dilandau yell, his voice much weaker than before though it still carried over the clashing of swords.  There was a sharp crack of impact from behind the crowd of guards followed by the sound of a scream… it wasn’t the captains voice.  “I’ll kill anyone who touches my Slayers!”  The scream rose in pitch before falling suddenly silent amidst the growing sounds of fighting.

“Folken!  I’ll kill you for this!  I’ll slit your fuc-”  Dilandau’s voice cut off mid threat and the two Dragonslayers surged forward with renewed vigor, determined to get to their beloved leader even if they had to kill everyone on board to do so.

“If you value your captain’s life you both will desist immediately!”  The cold clear voice of the Strategos rang out over the din of battle.  Everyone immediately froze, too conditioned by military life to be able to easily cast aside the direct order of a surperior.

“I want to see Captain Albatou!”  Gatti yelled back boldly, glaring hatefully at the guards standing between himself and his far too silent leader.  He knew damn well that he was in no position to make demands, but he couldn’t back down.  They’d already lost so much today, they couldn’t lose Lord Dilandau as well.

“At ease men.”  The Strategos’ voice was still just as calm and authoritative as always, not sounding the slightest bit fazed by the attempt on his life.  The men on the other hand didn’t appear nearly as confident, though they reluctantly obeyed, opening up a path between the Dragonslayers and their captain who lay unconscious on the floor of the hangar.  Two of Lord Folken’s guards were binding his wrists tightly behind his back.  The other two lay on the floor a short distance away, unmoving. 

The tall Strategos stood over it all, splitting his attention between the downed captain and the two Dragonslayers, studying their reactions and analyzing all probable outcomes with his usual cold demeanor.

Giving his blade a sharp flick to remove some of the blood which now stained its length, Gatti sheathed his weapon before approaching, knowing that to do otherwise would only make a bad situation even worse.  The Strategos had the captain after all, which meant he was now calling the shots.

“You knew about this?”  Gatti couldn’t help but ask, his voice low and dangerous but still very carefully controlled.  To his surprise, Folken actually looked at him, those cold eyes narrowing slightly for not before the slayer saw a hint of… sadness in their depths?

“We all have orders we must follow.”  The tall man stated solemnly.  “We are in the hands of destiny and must serve its will.”  Next to him, he could feel Shesta tensing, ready to attack as the guards holding Dilandau roughly hauled him up to his feet.  The pale youth was unconscious, whether from the drugged darts or a physical attack was unclear, but both teenagers were ready to leap forward until Folken held out a hand.

“He drew his sword on a superior officer.   That’s a treasonous offense, punishable by death.  Both you and he know this.”  The man cautioned, making both Dragonslayers hearts skip several beats.  “However.”  He continued smoothly before either of them could decide to commit to one last desperate charge against him.  “In light of his grief over losing a… teammate.  I will lessen his punishement.”

Gatti felt his jaw tense again as he noticed the pause in the man’s speech.  Was that what this was about?  Did Lord Folken have Miguel killed because of his relationship with Lord Dilandau?  That didn’t make any sense!  This wasn’t Astoria!  Soldiers were expected to have relations with each other, so long as duty always came first, no one cared. 

“To what?”  He found himself asking even as his mind quickly sorted through various possible scenarios to explain what was happening.  It wasn’t jealousy.  Dilandau had once shared his suspicions to Gatti that the Strategos was in fact some sort of eunuch, admitting (after several glasses of wine) to have attempted to seduce the man shortly after being transferred to the Vione.  It had apparently failed rather spectacularly and had become the basis of several private jokes between the two teenagers. 

Being with Miguel certainly didn’t affect the captains performance, in fact, the brunette had a certain calming influence on their leader and was often the only one able to deal with him when he was in one of his “moods”.  So why kill him?

“Captain Albatou will be confined in the brig until he calms down.”  For an instant, Gatti was positive he saw the Strategos’ mask of indifference slip.  There was a flash of deep sorrow and resignation, there and gone in the blink of an eye.  What in the name of the gods of Gaea was going on?

“He will remain in solitary confinement, not to be approached or have any interaction with anyone until I see fit to release him.  You will handle his duties until he is once again fit to lead.”

“Gatti…”  Shesta murmured softly, sounding horrified by the punishment.  Both Dragonslayers knew of their captain’s deep aversion to being left alone.  After losing Miguel… this would be nothing short of torture and the damn Strategos knew it!”

As if sensing their recalcitrance, Folken’s eyes narrowed dangerously in warning.

“The other option is that you three face a court martial.  He will be executed and you both will be dishonourably discharged and sent to the mines.  The Dragonslayers will be disbanded and placed in different units thru ought the army.  The choice is yours Lieutenant.” 

“You can’t just throw him in a hole like that sir!”  Gatti snarled, desperately seeking a better option but finding none.  At least this way, Dilandau would be alive.  Likely deeply emotionally scarred, but alive nonetheless.

“I will personally see to his needs and ensure that he is fit for duty upon release.”  Lord Folken allowed, his voice cold and hard with warning not to push him further.  “There will also be no mention of this incident from anyone.”  His icy eyes now surveyed those gathered on the hangar deck.  “Any whispers of this incident will be dealt with harshly.  Lieutenant, I leave you to discuss with the rest of your squad what has transpired.  It would be best to advise them that your captain is taking a short leave of absence to deal with his grief, but that he assures them that he will be returning for duty soon.”

Hating himself, and hating the Strategos more, Gatti squared his shoulders and gave a crisp nod of his head in acknowledgement.  He could feel Shesta’s disbelieving stare fixed on him, silently begging him to fight for their captain, to deny this vile arrangement.  Every bit of it was disgusting, and his instincts screamed that there was far more going on beneath the surface than he realized, but his only options were their captains death, or torture.  They’d already lost one member of the team today; they couldn’t afford to lose another, especially its most vital member.

_I’m watching you Strategos._ He warned silently.  _I know you’re up to something.  The instant I find out what it is, you’re a dead man._

“Come on Shesta.”  He murmured softly, hating himself as he did so.  “We need to brief the team.”

**Author's Note:**

> It always irked me how Dilandau, and team seemed to be functioning perfectly well after Miguel's death, but when the rest of the team was killed, Dilandau was left absolutely shattered. Considering how furious he was with Zongi (calm Dilandau is scary Dilandau) What the hell happened during that space of time between the fight at the temple and the attack on Freid? Also, I'm of the belief that there was a rather impressive conspiracy taking place on board the Vione which will be revealed in other short stories as well as in Dragon in the Ashes.


End file.
